Police seeking public’s help in solving assault case

A 72-year-old Silver Spring man who was found beaten and unconscious early Tuesday remained in critical condition as of Friday evening.

Candelario Guevara-Guzman was found by his sons at about 3:30 a.m. Tuesday in the 8600 block of Garland Ave., in Silver Spring, said Sgt. Dan Clements, one of the lead detectives on the case. The man was unconscious when officers arrived, Clements said.

“He had went out to walk the night before and then just never came home,” Clements said Tuesday. “He is suffering from injuries that are pretty significant and from all indications his injuries are due to an assault, either from blunt-force trauma or from a hands-fist attack.”

Detectives have not yet determined if the man was beaten as part of a random assault or if there was a clearer motive, such as a robbery, Clements said, adding that the victim had not recovered sufficiently enough to speak with police as of Tuesday afternoon.

“I don’t know his status today but we are looking for any type of motive we can get in this,” Clements said, adding that he and other officers will be patrolling the Piney Branch area on foot Wednesday afternoon to hand out fliers asking for the public’s help. “What we’re trying to do is generate any leads or information that we can about this.”